Cordage display rack



March 12, 1940.

F. RUSSELL ET AL ,193, 08 CORDAGE DISPLAY BACK Filed Oct. 10, 1938 4 7H; 'mllmmnxgw k k VIII/4%,

16 14 Fwy/warm INVENTORS.

ATTORNEY.

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Patented Mar. 12, 1940 r UNITED STATES common DISPLAY RACK Frank Russell and Adin B. WimpeyrLos Angeles, Calif., assignors to Great Western Cordage, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of Nevada I Application October 10, 1938, Serial No. 234,175

. c g 1 Claim.

Our:invention relates to a display rack for co-iled merchandise, and has particular reference to a display and storage rack having particular utility when employed for storing and displaying 5 such coiled merchandise as cord, rope or Wire.

It is common manufacturing practice to supply such commodities as ropeor wire to the retailers in unsupported coils, the coils merely being wrapped in burlap or tied with a binding. The retailer is faced with the annoying problem of properly displaying such coiled merchandise in such fashion as to make it possible to cut portions from the coil. So far, there has been no very satisfactory solution offered for this problem, it being common practice for the retailer to place the coils in an uprightposition on theflooror shelf.

It is readily seen that placing the coils on the floor wastes floor space that could be better used for other purposes, and placing the coils on the shelf requires lifting the coils from the shelf to the counter in ordertosell a portion of the coiled merchandise. It is also well known that once the wrapping or binding ,is removed from such and the coil becomes disarranged, so that it is not unusual for the merchandise to become snarled or kinked.

Another method of storing or displaying such merchandise, requires the retailer to rewind the material from the coil upon spools which are mounted in a suitable spool rack and to cut and sell the merchandise: from such spools. This is quite obviously a waste .of time and effort and involvesuseless annoyances to the retailer, both in the rewinding operation and in the subsequent handling of the merchandise from the spool.

It is therefore a primary object of our invention to provide a rack for storing and displaying coiled merchandise" in the same arrangement as it comes from the manufacturer in such a manner that such merchandise is prominently displayed and is readily available for removing a portion of the coil without disturbing the remaining portions of the, original coil.

It is an additional object of our invention to provide a storage rack forcoiled merchandise of the character set forth and of such type that the rack may be readily moved from place to place irrespective of whether the rack is'loaded or means for supporting coiled merchandise stored coiled merchandise,;the coils tend to fall apart Other objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent from a study of the following specifications, read in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the rack of our invention and showing the position occuset forth hereinbefore;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional View taken along the line II--II of Fig. 1 illustrating a novel bushing construction, which is applied toa hole provided in the rack for passing an end of the coiled merchandise;

Fig. 3 is a "fragmentary perspective View taken as indicated by the line IIIIII of Fig. 1 to show the method of removably securing one end of the removable back member of the rack;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentaryperspective view taken as indicated by line IV-IV of Fig. 1 to show the means for connecting said back member at the other end thereof and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated by the line V-V of Fig. 1 showing a pied by a coil of merchandise of the character method by which a single attaching means may be used to connect a numberof the various memin spaced relationship relative to the front frame l as by a number of horizontal tie members 3 and diagonal braces 4. A plurality of cradles 5 i are provided for supporting coils 6 of any type of coiled merchandise which is to be stored in the rack. The cradles 5 are preferably formed of thin flexible sheet material extending from one of the members 3 transversely across the rack toa corresponding member 3 on the other side.

As illustrated inFig. 1, the cradle 5 is composed of relativelythin and flexible sheet metal attached tothe longitudinal members 3 as by spot welding 1'. The sheet material ofthe cradle 5 is allowed to sag a great deal between each of the members 3 so as toprovide a semi-cylindrical cradle, upon which may -rest the coiled merchandise. 6. It

will be readily observed that by employing flexible material for the cradle 5, the weight of the coil 6 will cause the cradle 5 to conform to the contour of the coil 6 so as to provide substantial engagement therewith over a relatively large supporting area and to hold the outer convolutions of the coil from undue spreading.

The front angle iron frame I is preferably fitted with arectangular sheet front 8 which may be attached to the angle iron frame I in any suitable manner as by spot welding. The front sheet 8 is provided with a plurality of circular openings 9, preferably located on the vertical center line of the sheet 8. We provide one of the openings 9 for each of the cradles 5 contained in the rack and locate the holes 9 at approximately the same elevation as the horizontal members 3, so that the openings 9 closely correspond to the center of a coil which may be placed in the cradle 5.

We prefer to provide bushings or grommets I associated with each of the circular openings 9 so as to reduce the possibility of the sharp edges of the openings 9 damaging an end II of the coiled merchandise extending therethrough.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the bushing I0 is preferably formed from a soft non-abrasive material of tubular cross-section such as common rubber tubing. This tubing is split horizontally, as indicated at I2, and passed over the edges of the plate 8 defining the circular opening 9 and is formed around said opening so as to completely enclose the edges of the circular opening 9. The front plate 8 may also be fitted with a number of card holders I3 (one associated with each of the cradles which may be used for the insertion of a suitable card bearing the description of the commodity or its price ,'the remaining space on the front plate 8 may be suitably decorated or inscribed with suitable advertising material as desired.

In order that the coiled material may be readily and easily inspected by the customer, we propose to pass the inner end I I of the coil 6 through the circular opening 9 in the front plate 8 and prefer to support said protuding end as by means of suitable spring clips I4. The spring clips are preferably formed, as indicated in Fig. l, as including the curved clipped portion I5 lying generally in the plane of the front plate 8 and a rearwardly extending angle portion I6 engaging the side of the angle frame I.

Placing the inner end of the coil in the clip I4 prominently displays the merchandise, makes it readily available for close inspection by the customer and provides an end of the coil readily available to the salesman for removing a portion of the coil. Whenever it is desired to sell a portion of the coiled merchandise, the required amount may be withdrawn by pulling the material through the opening 9 (the merchandise uncoiling from the interior of the coil 6) measuring the amount so removed by any of the customary methods and severing the material at the desired point. The short endleft protruding through the opening 9 is then placed in the clip I4 where itwill be held until more of the material is sold.

As may be readily seen by referenceto Figs. 1 and 5, we prefer to arrange the component parts of the rack of our invention so that the spring clip'I l, the horizontal members 3 and the diago- -nal braces 4 may be removably attached to the angle frames I and 2 with a minimum number of removable fasteners, such as bolts I! and nuts I8 as shown in Fig. 5. One end of one. of the memhere 3 and 4, the spring clip I4 and the angle frame I are each provided with a hole through which one of the bolts I! may be passed. Application of the nut I8 to the bolt I'I securely locks these members in a fixed position relative to each other. It will be readily seen by reference to Fig. 1 that in the form of the rack illustrated therein, there are only twelve such connections provided. This provides a knock-down type of structurewhich may be readily assembled and disassembled.

It is obvious that removal of these bolts will allow all of the members to be separated from each other and that for shipping purposes, the "ront and rear frames I and 2 may be laid together, each of the cradles 5 may be flattened and laid thereon and the various auxiliary memhere 4 may be associated therewith and packaged in a compact, easily handled package.

It is also quite obvious that the rack may be assembled, in the fashion illustrated in Fig. 1, very readily with a minimum expenditure of time and use of a very few simple tools. If desired, a wing or thumb nut may be substituted for the hexagon nut I8, illustrated, so that the entire rack may be assembled without the use of any tools whatever.

We prefer to round the bottom corners of the front and rear angle frames I and 2 so that the bottom portion of these frames may operate in a manner analogous to sled runners so that the entire-rack, whether loaded or unloaded may be easily slid or skidded from place to place if desired.

In order that coiled merchandise may be readily placed in the rack and that such merchandise may be prevented from falling out of the rack, we provide a removable rear member I9 which is preferably of channel section so as to provide reasonably great stiffness without being very heavy. The member I9 is preferably located on the vertical center line of the rear angle frame 2 and removably attached to the upper and lower members thereof. In order that the member I9 may be readily removed for the purpose of placing fresh coils of merchandise in the rack, we provide a removable attaching means which may be constructed as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 4 illustrates one form of the lower end of the member l9 as being provided with notches 29 in each of the flange portions of the channel shaped member. These notches are adapted to engage the upstanding flange of the lower member of the angle frame 2. It is readily seen that whenever the notches 'ifl'are slipped over-the flange of the angle frame 2, the member I9 is rigidly held against movement in a direction toward or away from the coiled material. The upper end of the member I9 is preferably attached to the upper horizontal portion of the angle frame 2 in a manner illustrated in Fig. 3. We prefer to make the rear member I9 of such length that when the notches 20 are engaged with the flange of the lower horizontal member of'the angle frame 2, the upper end of the member I9 will extend to approximately the lower edge of the downwardly depending flange. of the upper horizontal member.

We prefer to. attach to the downwardly exable engaging means 23 for the member 19 which may include a washer 24,rotatably secured to the angle member 2 as by a screw or rivet 25. Washer 24 is provided with an upturned portion 26 so that when the washer 24 is rotated from the position shown in Fig. 3 in which the body of the washer engages the member I9 to a position in which the upturned face 26 lies parallel to the upper end of said member, the member I9 will be free to move toward the rear of the rack and thereby disengage the member 19 from the angle member 2 and the tongue 2|.

It is readily seen that when this operation is performed the member l9 may be lifted upwardly so as to disengage the notches 20 from the lower horizontal portion of the angle frame 2 and then be readily removed from the display rack. Whenever the rear member I9 is removed, the rear end. of each of the cradles 5 is completely exposed so that a new coil of material may be placed thereupon. Replacing the member l9 prevents any of the rear coils of the coiled merchandise from falling rearwardly and becoming entangled or snarled.

It will be readily seen from the foregoing description that we have provided a novel display rack particularly adapted for accommodating various types of coiled merchandise and that such rack is provided with a means for supporting and displaying such merchandise in a fashion which allows portions of the merchandise to be readily withdrawn from the rack.

It will also be noted that the rack of our invention is of a simple knock-down construction, making it readily transportable from place to place and simple of erection.

We have also provided a rack for coiled merchandise in which said coils are easily inserted in the rack, the rack being of such type that it may be readily and easily moved from place to place regardless of whether the rack is loaded or unloaded.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, we do not desire to be limited to any of the details of construction shown or described herein, except as defined in the appended claim.

We claim:

In a rack for storing and displaying coiled merchandise, the combination of: a frame including front and rear frame members; a cradle for supporting said merchandise carried by said front and rear frame members; a clip member carried by said front frame member for supporting and prominently displaying the inner end of said coil; and a single removable attaching means for interconnecting said clip member, said front frame member and one end of said cradle member, whereby said rack may be readily and easily assembled or disassembled.

FRANK RUSSELL. ADIN B. WIMPEY. 

